Hero Factory Apocalypse
by Killerison
Summary: The Golden age of Heroes is gone. Makuhero city lies in dust and vile Quaza mutants roam the streets. Charlotte Raven and the Makuhero Resistance corps are all that is left to fight for the old world. Heroes with nothing to prove and everything to lose. Authors note: Not to sure on the summary there, a little cheesey, ah well I'll sort it out at some point. Enjoy folks


**Chapter 1: The End of an Era**

Sand whipped across the dusty city streets, the towering skyscrapers now shattered and decaying. The once proud city resembled only a carcass of what it had once stood for. Bodies littered the streets, their cracked and battered armour rusting behind their empty cores. All colour had vanished from them, the brightly coloured paint stripped off by the blistering heat from the unrelenting sun. The dilapidated streets were silent, but by no means empty.

Raven peered out of cover. No hostiles. She gingerly walked out into the street, assault rifle raised. Her eyes flitted from one side of the street to the other. Her dimly lit Hero core pulsated slowly like a heartbeat. Something clattered to the ground behind her. She whirled around and took aim. The brown chunk of rubble rolled towards her feet. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She was jumping at rocks now?

"Keep it together Charlotte" she shook her head and edged towards the opposite side of the wide street. She was pretty tall, chipped purple impact armour covering her modest frame. She was one of the older HF models but her programming hadn't advanced since '_The event'_ leaving her with the mentality of a young upstart. A tattered cloak hung loose around her shoulders, terminating just below her knees. She reached the cover of an alleyway. Pressing her back to the wall she took opportunity to check the scanner imbedded in her gauntlet. The Quaza reading was close, about 200 metres or so. She coked her gun and walked over to the serrated barbed wire fence locking off the next street, she scaled it, her cloak only catching once. Without a sound she began stalking forwards towards the crushed body in the centre of the street. It was a Hero alright. She crouched and began picking her way towards him, dodging around the abandoned vehicles and chunks or rubble that attempted to block her path. She finally reached the body and rolled it over. The gently glowing core in the centre of his chest was the priority; she pulled the removal device from her belt and placed it over the Quaza source. A hand grabbed her wrist; she jumped back and grabbed her gun. The decaying Hero looked up at her through a crushed black Helmet, his eyes pleading. Raven lowered the weapon.

"Stringer?" she leaned forwards. The Old veteran wheezed and his head lolled back. She slid forwards and cradled his head in her arms. He struggled and lifted an arm to push her away "They told us you were dead, I'm getting you back to HQ"

"No" he wheezed. The servos in his face groaning with the effort. His voice was faint; Raven knew it was only a matter of time before his core finally wore out. She stood up and lifted him to what was left of his feet. A single crushed foot and a stump below the thigh. Again Stringer resisted, pulling himself away and consequently slamming down on the cracked tarmac. Raven bent down to grab him again

"No" he repeated "trap" the word formed ice in Raven's stomach. She lifted her gun and looked up at the windows of the buildings surrounding her location. The sounds of howling voices began filtering through the air. Raven did a full circle searching for the source. When the howls grew louder she knew what needed to be done. Grabbing Stringer and lifting him onto her shoulder she started to run. The sound of pounding metallic feet not too far behind her. The groaning Hero on her back fell still. She shook him

"Don't you die on me you selfish bastard" She rounded a corner and upped her pace. Her core now flashing as its energy flowed through into her legs. She didn't look back, she knew what was there and what would happen if she stopped. Another howl, this one was closer. Then a dark shape struck her. The force of the attack threw her sideways and she hit the ground hard, sparks jumped from her armour as she slid. Stringer landed a few feet away, but there were bigger problems. The Hunched form of a Quaza-stalker slowly began closing in. The twisted metal face contorted into a snarl. Luminous green slime dripped from its razor sharp fangs. The frame was unmistakable, it was a Hero, or had been once. Raven Jumped to her feet and drew her weapon and pointed it between the creature's eyes. It recoiled, slinking back a little before turning to face Stringer's broken body, it started the advance. Raven Took a step forwards and cocked the gun

"Stay away from him" she spat. The beast looked at her, as if it were smiling; _you think you can save him _it seemed to say. The beast dived forwards for Stringers body. The gun barked, splinting the creature in half. Fluid and armour fragments rained down on the ground. Raven reloaded. She turned, more were coming, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, darting out from in-between cars. They were everywhere. She let loose another few shots. Two more shattered. The others didn't seem to take any notice. They just continued to stalk towards her. Her ammo was low, and they knew it. She holstered the gun and drew her sword. The polished bronze blade gleamed in the sun. She took it in both hands and held it in front of her. The Quaza-stalkers paused, their primal instincts telling them to run. Raven backed up so that Stinger was beside her. The wolf like monsters began circling her. Gnashing their vile teeth. Was this the end? Raven turned, they were behind her now. Her core was pulsing so fast now, it seemed as though it was a sphere of solid colour. She engaged her core clamps and the thin claws flicked over her chest. Her helmet activated, panels and plates flicking over her exposed face. She lifted the blade a little higher, if this was how she was going to go, she'd take a few of these things with her. Then they attacked.

One flew straight for her face, she turned and swung the blade into its throat, lopping its head clean off, another made a jump for her. She kicked it back and recoiled. More were appearing again. She lashed out, slitting another stalker down the middle. She repeated the motion, once, twice, three times. Each time cleaving one of the creatures in half. The inhuman precision of the attacks was impressive. With another stab she intercepted one of the creatures as it made a dive for Stringer. Its head rolled across the ground. She turned to the bulk of the pack. They were starting to get bolder, one snapped at her heels. She brought her blade down on its snout. It yelped and jumped back. Then one landed on her back, forcing her to the ground. Then they were on her. Their teeth sank into her arm. She screamed and dropped the sword. She started to struggle. She had to stay on her front, it she rolled over they'd rip out her core and she'd be dead. Another set of teeth clamed around her ankle, she gritted her teeth and forced herself onto he hands and knees. More Stalkers leapt onto her and their teeth began digging into the wiring beneath her armour. Her energy ebbed away as they started draining the Quaza from her body. Her eyes closed, then snapped open

"NO!" She threw her arms out wide, throwing the Quaza-stalkers off. She drew her gun and sent a spray of white hot energy into them, a few fell but the others were closing in again. Raven clenched her fists. Another Stalker hit her in the back. She turned and seized its head in her hands. She swung it down into the ground and its armour shattered under the force. But she wasn't done. Lifting the beast above her head she grabbed its back and started to pull. With a gut-wrenching crack she pulled the head free in her hands and hurled it into the Stalkers. Liquid quaza sprayed from the gaping wound in the creature's neck and dripped down onto her helmet. She roared and swung the corpses into the oncoming Stalkers. Three of them were knocked off their feet. Raven lifted her sword and swung it in a wide arc beheading another four Stalkers. The beasts drew back, wary of this savage warrior. Raven saw her chance and took it. She grabbed stringer and ran.


End file.
